Miami Beach
Vilano Engineering performs building recertification inspections for condominium, cooperative, and commercial buildings in Miami Beach — structural inspection, electrical inspection, and infrared thermography, sealed and submitted to the City as a single package.
Miami Beach administers the Miami-Dade County recertification requirement. The technical content is set at county level and is the same in every municipality in the county; the City's building department issues the notice, reviews the reports, and issues the approval that closes the file.
A recertification notice from the City of Miami Beach means your building has reached the age at which the requirement applies, and it names the date your reports are due. What the City is asking for is a structural report and an electrical report, each on the County's own forms and each signed and sealed, with an infrared thermographic scan of the electrical distribution equipment where the building's service warrants it, and a cover letter certifying the building safe for its use and occupancy.
Send us the notice and we can tell you what your submittal needs to contain.
Send us your notice →The structural portion is a visual examination of the building's primary structural systems — foundation, load-bearing walls, floor and roof structure, balconies, railings, and exposed concrete — assessing condition and identifying deterioration requiring repair.
Findings are documented with colour photographs of the conditions described. Where the examination identifies substantial structural deterioration, a further phase follows.
Miami Beach requires an electrical report alongside the structural one. It covers the electrical service and metering, feeders and distribution equipment, panelboards, disconnects and overcurrent protection, grounding and bonding, emergency and egress lighting, fire alarm and life safety systems, and the condition of conduit and raceways.
Meter rooms and electrical rooms are examined directly, so access to those spaces is usually what sets the schedule.
Miami-Dade is one of the jurisdictions that requires an infrared thermographic inspection of the electrical distribution equipment, where the building's electrical service is 400 amperes or more in aggregate. The scan is performed on energized equipment under load by a certified thermographer, and the report forms part of the sealed submittal.
This is a point worth checking early. A building that needs thermography and doesn't have it in the package is not complete, and the scan requires coordination — a Florida-licensed electrical contractor removes the panel covers the day before and assists on site during the scan.
More on infrared thermography inspections →Miami-Dade requires its own structural and electrical report forms. A report prepared in a firm's own format will not be accepted, regardless of how thorough it is. Every page is signed and sealed by the engineer or architect responsible for that scope.
Where the property includes parking, two further certifications go in with the package — one covering parking lot illumination and one covering parking lot guardrails. They sit outside the structural and electrical scope and are easily missed.
Miami-Dade's recertification requirement applies county-wide, and each municipality administers it through its own building department. A building in Miami Beach and a building in the City of Miami answer to the same county standard on the same forms, but to different building officials.
The standard itself changes at the county line. Broward operates a separate county-wide program covering structural and electrical systems, and it does not require thermography. Palm Beach County operates no county-wide program at all — Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, and Highland Beach each run their own, and a building elsewhere in that county is subject to the statewide milestone inspection, which is structural only.
For the County's requirement, see the Miami-Dade recertification page. For the City's submittal instructions, see the Miami Beach Building Recertification page. For the statewide milestone requirement, see Florida Statute 553.899. For what happens between receiving a notice and closing the file, see what to do when you receive a recertification notice.
A structural report and an electrical report on the County's own forms, signed and sealed, with an infrared thermographic scan of the electrical distribution equipment where the service is 400 amperes or more in aggregate, and parking lot illumination and guardrail certifications where the property has parking. Confirm your specific requirements and deadline with the City's building department.
No. Vilano Engineering performs all three and submits them as a single sealed package.
No. Miami-Dade requires its own forms and proprietary formats are not accepted. A report on the wrong form is returned regardless of its content.
No. The milestone inspection is a statewide structural requirement. Miami-Dade's recertification is a separate county program covering structural and electrical systems. A building may be subject to both, and whether work done for one applies to the other depends on scope.
The building's age runs from the certificate of occupancy, but the applicable schedule is administered by the City. Confirm the date with Miami Beach's building department.
Vilano Engineering, LLC is a licensed engineering firm providing building recertification and safety inspections, infrared thermography, electrical design, expert witness services, developer turnover, and property condition assessments.
Nicholas Strachan, PE
Licensed Professional Engineer — Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, New York, North Carolina, Texas
Certified Level II Thermographer
Licensed Plans Examiner — Florida
25+ years in engineering design, inspection, and quality assurance